EUROPA - PRESS RELEASES - Press Release - SPEECH - Openness, Opportunity and Innovation: capitalising on the digital revolution

"It's a pleasure to be here with you once again. At this stage in the Parliamentary term, now is no time to slow down: I am determined to keep up the momentum. So I'd like to talk to you today about how we're building an internet of openness – of opportunity – and of innovation. And then I'd like to say a few words about the single market in telecoms – and our response to the welcome call from last week's Europe Council. First, openness. The Internet is such a powerful and productive platform because it is open. Our rules need to respond to and support that openness, bringing down barriers and building economies of scale. Here's just a few ways we are doing that. First, the cloud. For businesses, it could offer cheaper, more flexible IT; for citizens, an online locker for their favourite books, films and music; for governments, public services that are better value and better integrated. But different national rules would fragment our single market, shatter those benefits: a common market needs common standards. And I look forward to seeing Pilar del Castillo's report on our Cloud Strategy. We are also looking at copyright. That's an area where I've long called for change. I'm fed up hearing from people who cannot legally access the music and films they love; from artists who can't reach the audiences they want; from scientists who can't properly use modern research techniques. That is why we have launched 'Licences for Europe'. I am not keen on legislation if more pragmatic, easier and less heavy-handed solutions are available. But we are also working on modernisation through legislation – particularly if Licences for Europe fails to deliver. And we are promoting openness elsewhere: like in public sector information. This is a chance to make public administrations more transparent, give our people great new data-powered products and services, and stimulate a single market worth tens of billions of euros. I'm pleased that the legislation is making good progress, and I would like to thank Mr Kalfin the rapporteur, and others. And I hope we can find an ambitious agreement before the end of the Irish Presidency – so everyone, including small businesses, can easily and cheaply use and re-use public data, generating value again and again, across the single market. And never forget openness and freedom also depend on security. You cannot be open online, nor free, if you are constantly at risk of hacking, spying, or identity theft. Our proposal on eIdentification will make it easier for people to prove they are who they say they are – helping them transact securely and conveniently, and opening up a whole world of services across the single market. And likewise, our strategy on cybersecurity, including the proposed Directive, will support resilient networks. Because these threats know no borders: to tackle them, we must work together across the EU, and beyond. I was delighted to be able to present that strategy to you in February. Cybersecurity should be a top political priority for us all. I hope Parliament can make rapid progress: so the Directive on Network and Information Security can still be adopted during this mandate. This openness matters to our single market. The world is going digital: and we have a choice. We can continue to have barriers to online trade and innovation; barriers we've spent decades bringing down elsewhere. Or we can ensure a new online home for our single market: vibrant, unified, open. And it matters outside our single market, too. Here in the EU we recognise the values and virtues of openness. And we recognise the benefits are not just economic, but also for freedom of expression and democracy. Yet not every country around the world shares those values. That's something we have seen in international meetings around the world, from the IGF in Baku to the WCIT in Dubai. Let's try to bridge the divide, where possible. Let's be inclusive and help build capacity. But, ultimately, some are in favour of more government control. If they win the debate, the risk is that the Internet fragments. And then we would lose the benefits of a single, open, global network. That's why we should continue to uphold the EU's values. And to support an open, multi-stakeholder model for Internet governance. So let's stand together as the EU, with the correct external representation, and with a common line on how to support a free and robust Internet. My second point is that we must ensure this digital transformation offers opportunity for all our citizens. Digital confidence and skills are essential here. Yet we don't have enough of them - we could soon face a shortfall of nearly one million skilled ICT workers. That's crazy at a time of high unemployment: letting down our people and our competitiveness. We can all do something to help fill this gap: industry, training providers, and the EU itself. We and many others are already pledging to do so, under our Grand Coalition for digital jobs. A new kind of cooperation to cure our economic ills. Not just rhetoric, but cl